Елам тілінің жазуы: Клинопись және тарихы

Script used to write the Elamite language

Elamite cuneiform was a logo syllabic script used to write the Elamite language. The corpus of Elamite cuneiform consists of tablets and fragments. The majority were created during the Achaemenid era, and contain primarily economic records.

The Elamite language (c. 3000 BCE to 400 BCE) is the now extinct language spoken by Elamites, who inhabited the regions of Khūzistān and Fārs in Southern Iran. Scholars fiercely argue over several hypotheses about its origin, but have no definite theory. Elamite cuneiform comes in two variants, the first, derived from Akkadian, was used during the 3rd to 2nd millennia BCE, and a simplified form used during the 1st millennium BCE. The main difference between the two variants is the reduction of glyphs used in the simplified version.]] The earliest text using Elamite cuneiform, an adaptation of Akkadian cuneiform, is a treaty between the Akkadian Naram Sin and the Elamite Khita that dates back to 2250 BCE. The tablets are poorly preserved, so only limited parts can be read, but it is understood that the text is a treaty between the Akkad king Nāramsîn and Elamite ruler Hita, as indicated by frequent references like "Nāramsîn's friend is my friend, Nāramsîn's enemy is my enemy". The Archives are the most important primary source for an understanding of the internal workings of the Achaemenid Empire.

The most famous Elamite scriptures and the ones that ultimately led to its decipherment are the ones found in the trilingual inscriptions of monuments commissioned by the Achaemenid Persian kings; the Achaemenid royal inscriptions. The inscriptions, similar to that of the Rosetta Stone's, were written in three different writing systems. The first was Old Persian, which was deciphered in 1802 by Georg Friedrich Grotefend. The second, Babylonian cuneiform, was deciphered shortly after the Old Persian text. Because Elamite is unlike its neighboring Semitic languages, the script's decipherment was delayed until the 1840s. Even today, lack of sources and comparative materials hinder further research of Elamite.

Elamite cuneiform is similar to that of Akkadian cuneiform except for a few unusual features. For example, the primary function of CVC glyphs was to indicate the two consonants rather than the syllable. Thus certain words used the glyphs for "tir" and "tar" interchangeably and the vowel was ignored. Occasionally, the vowel is acknowledged such that "tir" will be used in the context "ti rV". Thus "ti ra" might be written with the glyphs for "tir" and "a" or "ti" and "ra". Elamite cuneiform allows for a lot of freedom when constructing syllables. For example, CVC syllables are sometimes represented by using a CV and VC glyph. The vowel in the second glyph is irrelevant so "sa ad" and "sa ud" are equivalent. Additionally, "VCV" syllables are represented by combining "V" and "CV" glyphs or "VC" and "CV" glyphs that have a common consonant. Thus "ap pa" and "a pa" are equivalent.